GoingTrueGreen's Blog Postings

Report Card Time

4/8/2019

Previously on Going True Green's Blog we spoke about two products that would hopefully save Money, Energy and our Earth. The testing and evaluations are now complete and here are the results:

On February 15, 2019 Going True Green shared information about Eco-Friendly Swedish Dishcloths to see if they would replace a wasteful use of Paper Towels. The blog's title was Cheese Cloth.

On February 26, 2019 Going True Green shared information about Dryer Balls covered in Wool to replace the plastic dryer balls. The blog's title was Woolly Balls - Not Plastic!

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Wooly Balls

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Swedish Dishcloths

First I will report on the Wooly Balls for the Dryer. They are working well with no signs of deterioration or ripping. However, sometimes socks do cling to other clothes and this can be observed at the end of the drying cycle when unloading the dryer. They come 3 to a box and all 3 are to be used in the dryer. When 4 Wooly Balls are used in the dryer, the static cling of socks dissipates. The draw back with this, is that we need to buy two boxes instead of just one. For the sake of rating, I will use 5 Oak Leaves with 5 being the best.
The Wooly Balls get 4 Oak Leaves out of 5.

The second product is the Swedish Dishcloths. They are strong and great for cleaning like cloth rags. Also very functional for polishing furniture when mixing a furniture polish/cleaner with water. They show little wear with several rounds of washing them clean. However, they are not good for dusting furniture and they have virtually no absorption ability. This last inability voids any possible replacement of paper towels that are mostly used to dry and clean up a spill.
The Swedish Dishcloths receive 2.5 Oak Leaves out of 5.

That is my report. All in all, the products have their pros and cons. They both help to different degrees, but each one of us will have to decide the full benefits from their use.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

This Easter Read a Historical Novel With 5 Stars!
Upper Room, The Way: 33AD to 57AD
The review below on Goodreads says it all.
Both Digital and Hardcopy available at Amazon.

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Cheese Cloth

2/15/2019

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Swedish Dishcloths

Cleaning up around the kitchen with dishcloths and paper towels always frustrated me since I had my first job at 16 years of age. I was working as a dishwasher and I could not stand wet and smelly dishcloths. Especially when left around for hours where the growing bacteria on the rag creates a rotten cheese smell. Thus the reason why we have the name “Cheese Cloth” used by the restaurant industry. I tried to toss out the old cheese cloths as often as possible, but most of my managers disapproved because of the costs involved and they wanted these cloths used until they tore or were over-ripe with odor.

Paper towels avoid the smell, but are a huge waste. A waste of money, trees and the infrastructure needed to manufacturer them. I tried various alternatives over the years, but I have yet to find a better way. Perhaps now I have received a better way…

Susan, a close friend and colleague, saw these Eco-Friendly Swedish Dishcloths in New York City when visiting on business. Knowing that I would love to test them out, she bought some as a gift for me.

The breakdown on this Eco-Friendly Dishcloth design is below:

These cleaning cloths can be used in the Kitchen, Bathroom, Workshop and all around the house.
They replace sponges, paper towels and “cheese cloths”.
They are made of 70% FSC-certified cellulose and 30% cotton.
Very absorbent and virtually streak free.
Dishwasher (top rack) safe, washing machine safe or boil clean.
100% Biodegradable and Compostable!
Can be used with soaps, spray cleaners or just water.
Each cloth is washable for over 200 times and is bleach safe. Just “air” dry.
Each cloth replaces about 17 rolls of paper towels and lasts over nine months.
They come in plain colors or with any design from dozens of choices.

So the testing has started and I will report back in a future Going True Green blog post. So far so good, and if anyone else can provide me with input on their experiences, please comment below or email us at GoingTrueGreen.com. Thank you!

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

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Assorted Timers Saving Money, Energy and Earth

12/5/2018

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Precious Time

There are various products that involve Timers so we can utilize these products to save Time, Money, Energy and Earth in our own homes. Of course this means we need to read the instructions of each product to determine if this is the right one for us and then if yes, how to use the TIMER correctly and efficiently. Additionally, by doing this, most of us will find that these individual timers are far more economical and a better solution than all the new computerized Smart Houses and Apps that we control from our cell phones. They also eliminate the possibility of being hacked. Below are examples of assorted timers that we can all use to save Time, Money, Energy and Earth:

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Entertainment Center #3

Human Timer Switch for Home Entertainment Centers
When we are done enjoying our Entertainment products (TV, Cable Boxes, Game Boxes, Stereo, DVD Player, Apple TV Box, etc.) just shutting them off does not stop the consumption of electrical power! Most, if not all of these Entertainment Appliances continue to use electricity through the plug to maintain a "standby" mode. As much as $30.00 per center, per month can be consumed without even turning them on. So we must ask, do we have an entertainment center in the Living room, our Bedroom, a Play room and how many Bedrooms for the kids? Adding up just 4 Entertainment centers in one house can cost $1,444.00 per year on the electric bill even when they are not being used.

Look into a Remote Controlled Power switch that works with a Surge Protector Strip. The switch is a wall mounted on/off radio signal that will turn your Power Strip on and off. This product's Surge Protection continues to function even when the switch shuts down all electricity to the entertainment appliances.

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Radio Control Switch

This way we are now saving 100% on the electric bill because all the entertainment appliances can no longer draw any electricity through the plug to maintain a "standby" mode. This is over a 75% savings when we can have each Entertainment center truly off from 11:30pm to 7:50pm most days of the week. The only issue is when we do this manually with the wall switch, we will need to wait a couple of minutes for everything to power back up after turning the Power Strip back on. I go and get some snacks in those two minutes. Also note that these Power Strips with switches come with two or three different frequencies. So you can have another Power Strip working all your Home Office equipment right in the next room without conflict.

Infrared Motion Sensor

Infrared Motion Sensor Switch and Timer
These units that are reliable cost around sixty dollars and about another sixty dollars for the electrician to install. Depending on the number of lights this switch controls and the time saved by having them automatically shut off, this product can offer paybacks within a year or up to three years. The best part about these units is the programming control: Sensor Range, Ambient Light, Time before going off Automatically and the amount of Body Heat needed with Movement to avoid erroneous turn ons and turn offs.

If the kids never shut off the lights or someone always forgets to turn off the lights when leaving a room or the house, this item can offer tremendous savings. I installed my first one in 1987 and loved when guest would ask, "Do you have ghosts?"
"No, why?" I would reply.
"Well, someone just shut off your kitchen lights and nobody is in the kitchen."
"Oh that, no, I am just saving money, energy and our environment."

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Exhaust Fan Timer Switch

Bathroom Exhaust Fan Timer Switch
Exhaust fans use a great deal of energy, especially if we forget to turn them off in the morning when we leave for work! Not having a timer for exhaust fans is like not having a window for a room. Well, maybe, I just made up that analogy. Nevertheless, accidentally leaving an exhaust fan running all day is a waste of money, energy and our environment. The Timer shown in the image on the left is very inexpensive to buy and have the electrician install this the same time he or she is putting in any Infrared Motion Sensors. Again, payback can be a fast as one year or less and the savings in money and for our environment go on year after year.

Digital Timer Switch

Outside Door Light Timer Switch
Every point stated already above also applies to the lights mounted outside the doors of any house. A programmable timer switch will help reduce the hours these lights are left on when not needed. In addition to the lights by my doors, I also have solar power, motion activated and photo sensor LED spot lights around the house.

From the image on the left, the light is programmed to come on at 4:30pm for the winter months and goes off at 1am. Then the light comes back on for half an hour at 3am. Obviously we can set and program the light to come on and go off to what is best for our needs.

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Set Back Clock Thermostats

Multi Setback Clock Thermostats
Many times we need to STOP and think if a product is something that we need or we are told that we should WANT this product. This is the case with Bottled Water and with the new App Controlled Thermostats from our cell phones. Spending more money on a product that gives us more things to do, such as turn our heat on from our cell phone is ludicrous. Especially when we can program a Multi Setback Clock Thermostat (as shown in the photo) only once to match our schedule and be done. Yes, there are over-ride buttons for changes in schedules. The end result is a payback on the product's cost in one winter of heating.

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Timer for Watering Lawns & Gardens

Timers for Watering the Lawn
There are many battery operated timers available for watering flowers, gardens and lawns. Saving clean drinkable water is paramount and is the responsibility of everyone on this planet.

My first GTG's OnLine Inter-Active Workshop for Living a Sustainable Life is on WATER! Who should take this OnLine Water Workshop:

Anyone who drinks water!

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Waiting for Clean Water

Additionally if you are the person who pays the bills, a Student studying in an environmental field, a Teacher for Outdoor Education, a Parent, Grandparents, Business Owners, Community Leaders, and Politicians.

Water Use Awareness is essential for all of us, please see my additional GTG blog posts under the topic of Water, listed on the right and visit my GTG's OnLine Inter-Active Workshop page. The reasons for our acute awareness with water is numerous, especially when there are people in this world that have to walk miles each day, just to get clean drinkable water.

These are the "actions" we can do around our own home. We need to stop putting our faith in the hands of politicians and elitists to save our world. We must put our faith in our own hands and we will save humankind, for with God all things are possible.

Anytime, someone needs additional information on any item or suggested action in a GoingTrueGreen blog, just email us through our contact link. Thank you.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

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APPLIANCE DEGRADATION

11/28/2018

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Bottom Freezers Glup Up More Energy

Over the years the evolution of appliances has been seen as advancements. They are sleeker looking, loaded with convenient features and use less energy so our utility costs are lower. New appliances are delivered, installed and our old ones are taken away to be recycled to whatever level of recycling utilized at that time.

Sadly, we are being duped. I see and hear about so many issues from people who are shopping or just purchased a new appliance. The issues are so numerous that I do a Workshop just on appliances. So if we are in need of a new appliance, here are just a few items to familiarize ourselves with for some of the major appliances we all use.

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House Fires: Dryers #1 Reason

End of Life Recycling:

Let us not get our hopes up. Most appliances, if recycled, are only done so for the metal. Glass windows, rubber, all items plastic and electrical wiring are off to the landfill.

Free Installation:

With the cost of delivery, installation is Free. Yet “FREE” can increase the chance of our house burning down if the people installing a particular appliance don’t know enough. The appliance is a Clothes Dryer.

The number one cause for house fires is from the Clothes Dryer. Let the Dryer be electric or gas, that doesn’t matter, the build up of lint is the fire starter.

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Clean Lint Trap Each Load

Lint build up in the ductwork that is being blown out of our house always makes me nervous because we can’t see if the lint is accumulating. Just last year, friends of someone that I know, lost their house to a fire started by lint build up from the dryer. They left the dryer on when they rushed out to do a last minute errand on Christmas Eve. They were homeless on Christmas Day, but gave thanks to God that nobody was injured or died.

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Do Not Use Flexible Duct

We all can take steps to avoid this tragic possibility by cleaning the lint trap after every load, buy an extendable wire brush to clean out the ductwork and always use solid metal ductwork to exhaust the lint. However, even with so called professional installers, we have to watch them and know what to look for as they work. This actually happened to me, so this is a first-hand account with no exaggeration nor a presentation out of context.

As I watched the two gentlemen install my clothes dryer they had a problem with the metal ductwork fitting on the back of the dryer. First they wanted to put a screw into the ductwork to hold it in place. I immediately informed them that would increase the chance of a FIRE. The reason is because the screw will extend through the wall of the ductwork and stick out on the inside catching lint when being blown by the screw. Lint will build up and back up while being ever so close to the source of heat. Lint ignites very easily.

They understood my concerns and proceeded with an alternative course of action that was to install a flexible tube. A tube with many ridges and bends that catches lint to cause the same exact problem. I showed them an old flexible tube that I use for demonstration purposes and how the edges were filled with lint. They were out of options, so I instructed them to leave the dryer as is and I would buy a metal tube extension to put on myself.

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Tonight's Movie: WHERE'S THE HEAT

Sleek Looking:

This is another costly degradation in the name of having such fancy looking appliances. What we are actually buying is a ludicrous feature.

- Ludicrous Feature Number One -
A plastic window in the door of a clothes dryer so we can have matching "Looks" for our Washer and Dryer. We are trying to dry clothes, so why would we want heat to escape through a plastic window. Is the new feature in town our dryer’s window? Are we making POPCORN and pulling up chairs so we can invite the neighbors over to watch our clothes dry! Give me a solid insulated door please!

Bottom Freezer - Waste Energy & Money

- Ludicrous Feature Number Two Through Eight -
The double French Door fashion statement for refrigerators has been in vogue for decades. We can have our fridge door provide us with ice cubes, tell us that the cheese went bad, do online shopping, show calendars, grocery lists and photos while increasing our electric bill. Also now we can have a plastic window in the door! Tap twice and we can see inside. The falsehood presented is that we save energy by seeing the location of what we want to get first, before opening the door and letting cold air out. That is correct, opening and closing the door faster saves energy, but the window is allowing some cold air to escape 24/7 compared to a solid insulated door. Besides, having two smaller French doors instead of on big door is cutting down on the cold air lost. However, what really takes the grand ludicrous prize is the Butter Warmer inside the refrigerator. An electric heater is keeping the butter compartment warm so our butter is soft when we take the butter tray out. An electric heater inside an appliance designed to keep food cold. Take the butter out first, put the butter dish on the table and by the time the food is served and everyone sits down, the butter will be softer. Unless paying a higher electric cost for unnecessary features is the thing to do today.
Don’t be sold a Bill of Goods!

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Convectional Oven with Fan

Lower Utility Costs:

In the end, we are being told that these new bells and whistles save energy and our environment. However, when I match up the newest refrigerator loaded with features, that will cost me almost $200.00 more a year in electricity compared to my top energy efficient refrigerator from twenty years ago. How is that more energy efficient?

Also don’t depend on the Energy Star label to blaze a path to the most energy efficient appliance. The Star only means the appliance meets minimum requirements and can be the least efficient model made when compared to the most efficient. Find and study the Yellow Energy Guide Label.

Below are some very important features we most certainly need in order to save energy and help our environment:

OVEN - Convection design that uses a fan to circulate the hot air, thus cooking faster. Preferably a Gas oven and stovetop if natural gas is available, because operation cost is much lower than Electric ovens and stovetops.

Best Energy Saving Design

CLOTHES DRYER - Preferably a Gas model if natural gas is available, because operation cost is 75% less than Electric models. Also a Moisture Sensor to cut down on the drying time.

CLOTHES WASHER - Front Load design uses up to 70% less water and thus less fuel to heat.

REFRIGERATOR & FREEZER - The Freezer should be on TOP because the first rule of physics is Cold Air Drops. Putting the Freezer at the bottom by the hot motor and compressor is ludicrous. A Freezer on the top can drop excess cold air from the freezer into the refrigerator thus cutting down on the refrigerator’s running time.

AIR CONDITIONERS - Learn about EER & SEER (for central air) to know the energy efficiency of the air cooling unit. Also use the WHILE formula to know the correct BTU size for your window units. For more details see my previous GoingTrueGreen blog posts under Appliances.

Besides the jesting around in this blog post, all this information, especially the serious life saving facts above on Clothes Dryers, needs to be shared with family and friends around the dinner table this holiday season.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

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Car Washing Saves Money

9/26/2018

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Car Wash, hand car washing, going green, rain water, save money, Wax on wax off, Karate Kid

Michelle is one of Going True Green's followers and she emailed us some follow-up questions on a previous Going True Green Blog / Article. Below are the questions which I believe prove useful for everyone to share:

Michelle Wrote:
Thanks! I've been thinking about this article and wondering something specific. Is there any research to show improved mpg by washing the car, and if so, how does it compare to the carbon footprint of getting the car washed? Would be interesting to know.

We emailed our answers back to Michelle and below we have the data from those answers along with updated information:

GoingTrueGreen:
Thank you so much for contributing those questions. As far as we know, various research is from wind tests done on a car's aerodynamics. Dirt build up does interrupt the flow of air over the surface and will not be as smooth.

If you ever saw these wind tunnel tests, they have white smoke blowing over the car with the wind, so we can see the disturbances. The difference in MPGs, I do not know. Too many variables involved... the amount of dirt, design of the car, how fast you are going, and how far you travelled. However, some tests showed that due to the increased friction created by the dirt the "average" gas mileage would be around 24 miles per gallon. A clean car would obtain a higher average of 26 miles per gallon. Also a TV science show did an episode on this very topic and their conclusion was a 10% decrease in gas mileage with a dirty car.

Nevertheless, in my article I described a "hand washing" of one's car and with collected rain water. Therefore, to come out ahead with a far smaller carbon footprint, we would have to forgo the car wash using electricity and clean drinkable water.

When I was young and helping my Dad hand wash and wax his car, I complained by asking, "Why can't we go to that new automatic car wash?"
My Dad replied, "I didn't have a Car Wash when I was your age and besides, don't you want to get stronger by exercising more?"
This conversation occurred fourteen years prior to the famous "Wax on, wax off" movie quote from Karate Kid.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

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Benefits To Growing Our Own Food

7/16/2018

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blueberries, blueberry jam, preserves, Composting, compost, gardens, top soil, fertilizer, going green, sustainable living, sustainability

Fresh Picked Blueberries

I believe I can safely say that everyone who is reading my Going True Green Blog at this time is blessed to have shelter, an apartment or house of some type. That fact offers all of us a powerful gift where we can grow some food for ourselves!

Perhaps we have a window ledge inside our apartment windows or access to the building’s flat roof that has been approved as a “green roof” by an architectural and engineer firm. Is there a balcony or some space for clay pots? (Try to avoid plastic pots because only glass, porcelain and wax paper do not leach carcinogens into our food or drink) Maybe we are fortunate to have a small back yard, plot of land or blessed to have a half acre or more of property.

No matter what the situation we have, we should be growing food for ourselves and perhaps some to share! The reasons and benefits to do so are numerous and the “How To” is much easier than we think.

Benefits and Reasons:
Save Money
No Pesticides
No Growth Hormones
No Chemicals or Fertilizers
No Genetically Modified Food
Cooking and Eating Healthier
Make Money Selling Surplus Crops
Self Satisfaction when Sharing with Others
Enjoying the Amazing Taste of Fresh Picked Food
Enjoying Time Together to Can or make Preserves
Abounding Compliments when Sharing with Others
Peace Within Ourselves when Giving to others at Church’s Food Kitchen
Less Trips to the Food Store, just Harvest Our Own Freshly Grown Food
Having Homemade Gifts for others at Christmas, such as Blueberry Preserves or Grape Jam

How To:
The first step to growing our own food is to start making our own Top Soil and Fertilizer, AKA - Composting.

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Compost Strainer in Sink

Placing an open curved stainless steel strainer in the corner of your sink starts us off. When preparing a meal, deposit all food scrapes into the strainer, but NO meat or dairy. Never compost Meat, Fish, Bones, Cheese, Oil, Fats, Diseased Plants, Coal, Cat Litter, Plastics and Paper with Ink or print.

When the strainer is full, place contents into the compost bin. Let it be a small one for under the sink in apartments or a larger bin for outside. Compost bins come in all sizes and designs. Building one is also feasible, just make sure there is enough air flow to assist in decomposition. If there are animals about the outdoor area, make sure the compost bin locks tight to keep out all woodland neighbors.

Outdoor Compost Bin

Never have any one element in the compost bin build up to more than 2 inches high. A good blend of food scrapes, leaves, small twigs, dried out weeds, is the best way to go. Grass clippings should be used like salt. Just sprinkle on a little ever now and then, but grass is not necessary. Egg shells and coffee grinds are great and about 10 weeks later the finished product will be nutrient rich top soil that will nourish plants and keep weeds from growing.

Currently GTG is looking into finding a company to Sponsor an OnLine Class/Workshop at GoingTrueGreen.com about methods and benefits to composting. This OnLine Class/Workshop will operate like our FIRST money and earth saving Inter-Active On-Line Workshop on WATER. For more Info please visit our webpage at:
GTG's WATER Workshop and view our Trailer below.

The end results would be amazing if everyone, who could, started to grow some food. Even businesses and corporations that have big lawns, which cost them money, could be making money by having the land yield a crop such as organic corn. For most parts of America there are two crops of corn per year based on the weather. Every time I see a half acre or more of land that is not used for sports but has grass, grass and more grass, I see a waste compared to what God's Green Earth can yield for us in food. If everyone did what they could, we would have no need for Genetically Modified Food to feed the masses, because the masses will be feeding themselves. Thus we could delete hunger in our country, in our world.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

Video Trailer Above is for Going True Green's OnLine WATER Workshop. For More Info CLICK HERE
Our GTG OnLine WATER Workshop is sponsored by BBV Publishing - Telling the Untold Stories

3 Comments

Paint vs Trees

5/31/2018

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Image by BSS Los Angeles

After a pilot program in the neighborhood of Canoga Park in San Fernando Valley, California thinks they have an answer to the Urban Heat Island Effect. This is when miles and miles of asphalt, aka blacktop, heats up in the hot sun light. As the surface temperatures of the blacktop road increase, so does the ambient heat that radiates throughout the surrounding air. This can cause an average air temperature increase of 22 degrees Fahrenheit.

So they tested painting the blacktop roads white. The pilot program was declared a success... A success for wet skid tests, durability and lower surface temperatures. Now we all know a lighter color and the color white will reflect heat as darker colors will absorb heat, thus an average 10 to 15 degree decrease was noted with this CoolSeal white paint that is applied twice.

End result, many are saying this is a half baked idea because several concerns are not answered. The first thing I thought about was the paint, with only a 7 year life expectancy, wearing off and washing down the sewers. This in turn will go into our waterways. Was this part of the testing? I found no answer. Next thing I thought about was a solution as easy as planting trees. The solution is planting trees and will cost far less than the $40,000.00 per mile to paint. Additionally, trees last far longer than 7 years, while not putting any paint into our waterways and drinking water tables.

For clarification, when I speak of planting trees, I don't mean Palm trees that cast less shade. Now with extreme heat areas, the water supply for some trees that cast more shade may be crucial. This can be solved by allowing Homeowners on the block to collect rain water off the roof in any number of ways. The extra water supply can be used for their flowers and the trees by the curb. Also looking into building codes to see if lighter color roof material is standard or should become the new code. Light color roof material lowers air cooling costs for Homeowners and when matched with a minimum of R30 insulation on the attic floor, along with a Solar Powered Attic fan, money is saved big time. One more thing, make sure Homeowners have the right amount of open vent space for their attics. Details on all of this can be perused under my Insulation Category found on the right side of this page.

UPDATE: While researching for this topic, I found that the state of Arizona also had the idea of painting roads white presented to them. They have decided to take the side of complete logic by looking into increasing the canopy and foliage along their roads. Smart.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

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Caught Looking! Strike Three!

5/16/2018

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The WSJ printed an article on May 13, 2018 with the title:
Recycling, Once Embraced by Businesses and Environmentalists Now Under Siege

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Back on February 17, 2016 I posted on my Going True Green Blog: Is Recycling Striking Out? So just over two years later, we have a serious situation for township's recycling programs. A situation that was rapidly developing when I posted my blog and asked if America's Recycling programs would be caught "Looking" at Home plate for strike three. With the Wall Street Journal's article, I believe we just heard the umpire yell, "You're Out!"

America continued recycling the same easy and cheap way only to now find ourselves sending unwanted recyclable items to Landfills again. I strongly suggest for everyone to read my 2016 Going True Green blog post again, the Link is above in Green, and then look up the WSJ article by Bob Tita. As individual's we need to notify our Town's Recycling Departments that we need to go back to the multi-layer sorting system and that we are not allergic to work. We are all capable of spending a few extra minutes to sort our paper from plastic and glass from cardboard, before putting it to the curb. The bottom line is the fact that, "Three strikes you're out" does not just apply to America's past time called Baseball.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

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Toilet Paper Progression

11/27/2017

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Cardboard Tube Free

Toilet paper, aka TP, is a product that is considered very useful to say the least. Yet, perhaps we can do better to save Money, Energy, and help our Environment.

Most rolls of toilet paper come with a cardboard tube in the center that creates a great deal of waste, especially because a small percentage of cardboard tubes are being recycled. Recent statistics present that each year in America we use enough cardboard tubes to fill the entire square footage of the Empire State building in New York.

We are paying more money per roll for that cardboard tube, while manufacturers are using more energy to produce and use them. Additionally, the negative impact on our environment each year is probably unmeasurable.

Thankfully another TP roll has been developed and we can all consider taking action to help move toward true green. As shown in the photograph, toilet paper rolls are available without a cardboard tube. The rolling curves of paper in the center function as the tube of cardboard. The only slight draw back I experienced is with one of our toilet paper dispensers. This dispenser has a wide mounting pin or dowel to hold the roll of toilet paper. These wider center mounting pins or dowels, are on various toilet paper dispensers. When restocking this dispenser with a new roll of toilet paper without the cardboard tube, I need to expand and widen the center curves of toilet paper at the center of the roll. This then facilitates an easier installation over the dispenser’s dowel.

Regarding the job positions producing these cardboard tubes, please realize no jobs should be lost with a little creativity. Young children in every American school should be learning about recycling cardboard. They also build, make, and create projects in classes between K to 5 grade and then in art classes. Cardboard and cardboard tubes are a key element with making turkeys for Thanksgiving to telescopes and from bridges to buildings. A simple shift in production to packages of different sized cardboard tubes and sheets, will make ordering and creating much easier for every grade school teacher.

Our hope at Going True Green is to see center cardboard tubes for toilet paper go the way of colored toilet paper. Matching colors in our bathrooms with the same color toilet paper reached tremendous popularity in the 1970s. However, toilet paper in various colors cost us more to buy compared to plain white toilet paper, production was wasting energy in the name of vanity and the dye in colored toilet paper was proven to be harmful to our environment. Finally in 2004, production of toilet paper with colors was stopped.

Unfortunately, some Novelty companies have started production again to meet the demands of certain "celebrities" and others. Red, Black, and Glow in the Dark toilet paper can be found online today with biodegradable and nontoxic claims to help entice the buyer.

Please distinguish between want and need. I certainly do not need to use Glow-in-the-Dark toilet paper that costs Ten Dollars a roll along with a cardboard tube in the center.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Fertilizer Out Of Thin Air

8/14/2017

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Lightning, Thunder Storm, fertilizer, save money, sustainable living, going green, going true green, static electricity, you can't get money out of thin air, or can you?

Lightning from Space: NASA Image

Many of us have heard of sayings such as: “Money doesn’t grow on trees” and “You can’t just make money appear out of thin air.”

Well, let us try this… How would you like to know how you can save money by getting something for Free “Out Of Thin Air?” Too good to be true, right? This time the answer is TRUE!

Do you have flowers, plants, or crops? Do you spend money on buying fertilizer to help your garden grow? If yes, then you are wasting your money on a product that you really don’t need because you can get fertilizer for free out of thin air!

When a lightning storm occurs, that will naturally fertilize all living plants! The science behind this is as follows: Lightning causes the nitrogen molecules in the air to cling to the oxygen molecules. This bond forms nitrogen oxides. The nitrogen oxides will either fall from the sky or be collected by the rain drops. Fertilizer’s main ingredient is nitrogen. So stop buying a product that God provides to us for free.

Now to enhance this Free benefit from the sky, many farmers will run bare copper wiring around copper stakes to form a loop around the flower patch or tomato plants. The copper wire will attract static electricity and add more nitrogen to the soil. However, I found the following to be an easier step and a better solution.

First, nitrogen from lightning will not be enough for many plants to grow as strong or as big as you may like. However, that is seen by some people as one’s own opinion. NASA has data showing that more than 2,000 thunderstorms take place around the world at any given time. Combined, these storms produce at least 100 lightning flashes per second. Yet, in addition to nitrogen helping plant life, so does bacteria. That is the extra step I take to fertilizer my plants and food that I grow. COMPOSTING.

I make my own dirt, aka Top Soil, aka Fertilizer. To read more about how to fertilize for free and save even more money, go to my GoingTrueGreen.com Blog dated 4-7-2015 under the Topic called Composting. The title of the blog is: There Is Money In Composting

These are just two more Going True Green actions to living a more sustainable life that saves you money, energy, health, and our environment! Now that is Going True Green.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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